


Rejections and Reactions

by IGuessIWriteStuffNow



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: (the answer is no), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Jack Kelly, First Kiss, Fluff, I Love David Jacobs, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Third Person, Pining, could be movieverse could be musicalverse who knows, do i write anything without pining?, don't be fooled by the title its happy, its cute hopefully, the newsbians are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-10-07 12:31:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10360566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IGuessIWriteStuffNow/pseuds/IGuessIWriteStuffNow
Summary: Davey has never been asked out on a date, Jack plans to fix that.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah I'm back with more pining david jacobs cause why not  
> Btw they are either seniors in high school or recently graduated from high school, and they've been friends for a while I guess? That stuff is left kind of ambiguous

“...so then she asks me to go out with her and I think, she’s nice and all, but I just don’t really know her all that well, ya know? So I turn her down and she just shrugs and walks away, which is good, I guess, ‘cause I’ve gotten lotsa worse reactions in the past-”

David finds himself interrupting Jack’s rambling, as cute as it is, to reminisce a bit on some of these other rejections and reactions Jack has told him about. “Didn’t the last person you reject make a huge scene in the middle of a mall?”

Jack winces with the memory. “Yeah, nearly took the store clerk’s eye out. Not as bad as one of the ones before, though.”

“The guy that made you call his mom and explain to her over the phone why you weren’t taking him out on a date?”

Jack nods. “That would be the one.” They are both quiet, for a moment. David takes that time to tear his gaze away from the highly visible stars above them where they sat on the roof, and look at his gorgeous, charming, and wholly unattainable best friend. It is no wonder so many people try to date him; David would as well, if he wasn’t sure he would just become another one of many rejection stories. A story Jack would have to tell someone else, because no way would he still want to be friends with David once he knew how he felt about him. 

Breaking himself out of his fit of pining, David clears his throat to get Jack’s attention. “When was the last time you actually accepted someone’s offer to go out? Or even asked someone else yourself? You used to date all the time.” David regrets the words once he says them; the last thing he wants is for things to go back to the way they were sophomore and junior year, when Jack had some boy or girl hanging off his arm at any given moment, and had less time for Davey because of it. That had been before David knew what he really felt for his friend- he wasn’t even out as gay at the time. All he had known was that it hurt.

“I dunno, Dave.” Jack answers, looking up at the sky the way he does whenever he’s trying to work out a particularly difficult math problem. “Months, definitely; probably half a year, maybe more? Just not really interested, ya know?”

“‘Not interested’ in dating? Why did that change happen?”

Jack chuckles half-heartedly. “Maybe I’m just infatuated with someone in particular.”

“You’re not.” David is sure of this. “You would have told me.” _But what if he is? What if he’s in love with someone, someone who’s not me , and now that I know about them he’s going to tell me all about how much he loves them?_ He halts the terrifying thoughts, shooting them down with the one thing he can always count on: logic. He is Jack’s best friend and Jack tells him everything. He would never keep a secret this huge.

“I don’t tell ya _everything_ , Davey.” Jack counters, as if he could read David’s thoughts. Which, of course he couldn’t; besides the impossibility factor, that would have led to some very awkward moments. Some of David’s thoughts about Jack were not the kind that could be brought up in pleasant conversation. “Maybe there’s someone I like that I don’t want you know about.”

“And who wouldn’t you want me to know about?” Davey scanned his face, looking for answers of some sort- hopefully that Jack was just out to annoy David with his comments, because the idea of him liking someone else was a lot worse than the idea of him just liking no one. “Is it one of the newsies?” - the affectionate nickname for their school’s newspaper crew, and Jack’s closest friends- “Katherine? My sister?”

Jack laughs, a short, stunted sound, which was more like an amused 'heh' than the full laughter David had categorized in his mind as 'The Best Sound Ever'. “Davey, I haven’t liked Sarah in two years, you know, since she dumped me to date Kath? Who has also dumped me? And the newsies are my family, Dave; I’m not about to make out with any of ‘em. You are terrible at guessing.”

David turns his gaze back to the sky, where the moon is full and bright, with an exasperated sigh. “How about you just tell me, then?”

“Nah.” _Infuriating_. “Switching the subject, there’s something you gotta tell me, Dave.” 

He doesn’t turn his head back to Jack quite yet. “And what is that?”

“How do you turn people down? Smart guy like you, with all your words, ya must know some good way of doing it.”

If there was one good thing that came from copious amounts of time spent having a crush on the incredibly tactile, serial complimenter Jack Kelly, it was that David was pretty good at keeping himself from blushing. So he merely spoke, ignoring what could only barely be called a compliment. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never rejected anyone.” Jack raises an eyebrow. “You’re telling me, every person who has ever asked you out on a date has gotten a yes? You’ll get a reputation for that, you know.”

David couldn’t actually hide his blush this time, realizing with a pang of embarrassment that he had dug himself into a pit he couldn’t talk himself out of without having to explain that Jack was very far from correct. “It’s not _that_. It’s just that, well, I’ve never turned anyone down because no one has ever given me the opportunity to.” Jack is looking at him, head cocked to the side with a look of confusion- he hasn’t put all the pieces together- and David might as well just say it. “No one has ever asked me out.”

Jack stares at Davey like he’s grown an extra head, and he can’t exactly blame him. Almost eighteen years old and has never had a boyfriend is bad enough, but never even been considered desirable enough to get asked on a date? Pathetic. It wouldn’t be a surprise if that was what finally made Jack finally give up on this friendship; it was really a wonder it hadn’t happened sooner… “Whattaya mean no one’s ever asked you out?” Jack asks, face the quintessential image of confusion.

“I mean, no one has never asked me out.” David hates repeating it, but before he has even finished speaking, Jack is shaking his head.

“Bullshit. I call bullshit on that. You’re trying to tell me that no one has ever asked David Jacobs, the smartest, most gorgeous guy I’ve ever known, out? Who the hell wouldn’t ask you out?” David hates the words as much as he loves them, because the more Jack gives him these beautiful, caring comments, the more Davey has to remind himself that they don’t mean anything.

“Apparently everyone.” He tries to keep his tone light, as if it doesn’t bother him, but the more he thinks about it, the more he realizes how much it does. He has accepted that Jack would never be interested in him romantically, but the fact that no one, no one in his eighteen years of life, had had any interest? Terrible.

“That’s stupid.” Jack’s comment is as childish as his personality often is, but of course, it is so endearing as well. “You know what, I’m gonna change that.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?”

Jack grabs David’s hand in his, pulling him up so they were sitting facing each other, and laces their fingers together. They are the type of friends who hold hands, hug, and exchange casual touches with each other frequently, but David couldn’t lie and say it didn’t cause his heart rate to speed up each time it happened. “Davey Jacobs.” Jack says, and grabs David’s other hands, making intense eye contact. “Will you go on a date with me?”

Davey feels his heart leap to his throat, and he scrambled backwards, pulling his hands from Jack’s and trying to be as far away as he could. “No!” He was close to tearing up, he could tell, but _dammit_ he was not going to cry about this. He was not going to cry, no matter how much it hurt to hear the words he had imagined being said to him for years now, being said only out of pity. Asked out on a date out because you were pitied was so much worse than never being asked out at all.

Jack put his hands up in surrender, concern written all over his strong features. “Dave? Davey, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t’ve said that, I just- you looked sad-” _You look sad. Pitiable, pathetic, even. You’re a charity cause I can feel good for helping, Dave._ Even if Jack meant the words well, all David could hear was pity and he didn’t want it. He was a Jacobs, and they didn’t take charity from anyone. Even pretty boys with artistic skill people would kill for and an idealised view of a city he’s never been to. 

He smiles tentatively, trying to get Davey to look at him. “But, for the record, your way of rejecting me was pretty shitty. You might want to try something else.” David doesn’t respond; for all the words he was known for being able to say, none made themselves apparent to him, and he was left in painful silence. “Hey, Davey.” He moves closer, still not touching the other boy, voice more scared than David had ever heard from him. “I think you’re mad at me right now, but I’m pretty sure I won’t ever be able to get up the courage to ask you this again, so… I really like you, Dave.” The words freeze David where he sits, running through his brain on constant replay as his mind provided every possible meaning for them. _I really like you, Dave._ Because he couldn’t mean, he couldn’t possibly mean- “And not like a friend like either, like an I-wanna-go-on-dates-with-you kind of like, yeah? And I’m really sorry if I screwed up whatever it is we have here, cause I love being your friend, Davey, but I’ve been turning down all these people cause none of them were _you_ , and then I kept telling you about ‘em hoping maybe you would pick up on-” The rambling is mostly lost on David, who is still replaying those five words, and suddenly they click in his brain, and “I really like you, Dave” means “I really like you, Dave”, and then he is throwing his arms around Jack and pressing their lips together, because he has wanted this for _so damn long_ and he finally has it, he finally has it!

Davey pulls away, blushing furiously, before Jack even has the chance to break out of his shock at the sudden act of affection. “Jack- I- I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask you first-” His stammering apology is cut off by Jack’s lips on his. He kisses back, unable to remember the last time he has felt this happy. Jack’s hands move up to cup his face and Davey runs his through the other’s hair, and, while he is quite new to this whole kissing thing, Jack obviously isn’t, and David can’t help the pleased noises that escape from his lips.

They pull apart after what Davey considers is far too short a time. Jack’s eyes are still closed as he trails a hand down David’s spine and murmurs, “You remember when I said that I really like you, Dave?”

David laughs, “Yeah, you said it maybe two minutes ago; I remember it.”

“Well, I was thinking, maybe I should change that to: I really love you, Dave.”

This time Davey’s laugh is closer to a cry of happiness as he buries his head in Jack’s neck, deciding that his mental box where he stored 'The Best Sound Ever' would now be filled with the sound of Jack’s voice telling Davey he loved him. “I really love you, too.”

The two sit there, in a comfortable silence, hugging as they watch the stars overhead. “So, Dave,” Jack said, after what could have been minutes or hours, for all he knew. “ _Will_ you go on a date with me?”

He smiled and raked a hand through Jack’s hair. “What do you think?”

**Author's Note:**

> (The reason no one had asked Davey out before this is cause they all thought he was already dating Jack)
> 
> Hey my dudes, tell me what you thought, if you want, and I hope you all are having a fantastic day! (if you aren't I would recommend looking up pictures of ben fankhauser smiling because it works for me)


End file.
